Self-feeder for addressing-machines and the like.



Nb! 876,914. PATENTED JAN; 14, 1908. R. .N. ROGERS.

SELF FEEDER FOR ADDRESSING MACHINES AND THE LIKE.

. ,APPLIOATION FILED JUNE 1a. 1906.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

witnesses: Inventor v r Mud/ 171 25 073 No. 876,914. PATENTED JAN.14, 1908.

IR. N. ROGERS. ,SELP FEEDER FOR ADDRESSING MACHINES AND THE LIKE.

APPLICATION FILED-JUNE 18. 1906.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

* Mum: i ll wimulml 'PATENTED J N. 14,1908.

R. N. ROGERS. SELF FEEDER FOR ADDRESSING MACHINES AND THE LIKE.

1 APPLICATION FILED JUNE 18 1906.

a SHEETS-SHEET s.

' Inventor mnlljl figgrm' UNITED STATE-s RUSSELL N. ROGERS, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS,

OF CHICAGO} ILLINOIS, A

o RoeEnsAnnnEsssR COMPANY,

N or ILLINOIS.

' SELF-FEEDER FOB! annnnssme ragms AND was cum.

g j SpecificationoiLetters. Original a iplicafion filed January '20. 1906; Serial u 297.001; Di viiiedanii- Ptitent.

pplieation in: June 18.;1906. Serial m. 322.212.

To all whom it may concern.-

c Be it known that I, RUSELL citizen of the United- States: and aIesident' bl. Roenns, a

of Chicago, Cook county, Illinois, haveiina .vented a certain new, useful, and Improved- Self-Feeder for Addressing-Machines and the. Like, of which the-following is a full, clear,

and-exact description, 'suchas will enable The present invention relates t m'provef others skilled in the art to which it belongs =uses'to which 'the mechanism may be put.

' ."Asstated, the drawings show my novel self feeder as a art of an envelop addressing to makeand use the'same.

This is a divisional application; jec't matter hereof having-been first in my pending application, Ser'. l entitled enve op addresser', filed J ,ments lIl printingmachi'nes, addressing maing, and rindorsing machines? a simple, durable, eflective. automatic feeding mechanism chines, stamp canceling machines-,lcheek indorsing machines and the like, and-hasspecial referenc'e'to improvements in mechanisms for feeding sheet-s,.,.r,cards or envel "13s to such machines. v heobject this invention? envelops or thelike to various 'I'nac ines to the requ rements of addressing, e] cel- My invention consists generally' in proved automatic feeding mechana ICOIlStIuGtlOIl and combination of p understood by-reference .to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specifi cation, in which; i

Figure l is a side elevation of a'feeding mechanism embodying my invention; Fig. 2. is a front elevation of the mechanism;

Fig. 3'is aplane view thereof; Figs. 4' and 5 are vertical sectional'view's' illustrating the operation and the mechanism; Fig. 6 1s a perspective view ofthe lower drawing and pressure roll; and Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the adjustable cam used on said roll;

'Asthis is a divisional application and as I the mechanism which forms the subject matter. hereof may be employed -'upon envelop addressing machines, as well as upon many other machines. I have chosento V illustrate the invention in that form in It will, however, be un- W sent a ry 20, e

l dresses are imprinted-upon the envelops.

inafter described and particularly. pointed out in the claims and will be more-readily I thisijspeeific'use orto any particular print- "claim the mechanism for feeding cards,

- machine, an in said drawings, 'A, represents az frame whichzis common to'the addressing i'm'achineand the feeding 'mechanism, In said drawings, B, represents a conveyer or other machine element thatis ad'a ted to intermittently feed type or stencil p ates, P, to the printing mechanism;. said printin mech-'' anism comprises two rolls, 5G and [The type plate enter between the rolls simultaneously. It is in this manner that the ad have stated that the rolls, Gand H consti I -tute the printing mechanism; that-is, they are the memberswhich effect the necessary .pressure upon the plates and 'envelops, but as fwill be better explained hereinafter, said rolls, G and H, also constitute essential elements ef the envelop feeding mechanism. A brief inspection of the drawi s discloses the fact that eneof the rolls, to-wit, H, is relied upon to draw or pullsuccessive envelopsinto position to be grasped by both rolls; the aris released from this position, it will be caught and passed through the rolls, to be immediately followed by aisecond envelop. The roll or roller, G, is preferably arranged on the shaft, d borne in the frame, 'A. Any suitable means may be used-for rotating the roll, G. I prefer the simple crank, b"; The

somewhat exceeds the len th of the longest envelop to be handled by t e machine. The type plate feeder, B, approaches the opposed rolls at a tangent thereto and delivers suc-. cessive plates between the rolls in time to meetsuccessive envelops. The bearing for the roll, G, are preferably stationary 'andas' the plates are of considerable thickness, it is therefore necessary that the upper, and preferably smaller roll, H, shall be adapted to yield and move away from the roll, G, upon Patented Janl'14,-1 9 08; I

. a -50 v zplication is to carefully define and broadly sheets, envelops,etc., to various machines,

without limitation to any one or several arrangement is such that an envelop: and fa rangement being such, that when anenvelop circumference of the roll, G, preferably f the entrance of a plate and envelop. I therefore arrange the shaft, h, of the upper roll H in swinging arms, it. These arms are pivoted on the frame and the roll is held down'by gravity or by springs, hy'the pressure exerted by the roll being 'suflicient to hold an article such as a type plate envelop, sheet or card upon the power driven roll,.G, to the end that said article may be drawn between and propelled from the rolls. The roll, H, is made of a soft composition resembling very soft rubber, and as such aroll would be distorted if pressed directly uponthe roll, G, I prefer to sup ort the roll,

H, by separate carrying whee s orpulleys, b and h upon the shafts, b and h respectively. These wheels, I) and h ,'also operate as drivers for the roll', H, and hence said roll will continue in. rotation at all times whenever the larger roll, G, is rotated. This is necessary as I depend upon the roll, H, to draw successive envelope from .the holder which I shall now describe.

In the drawings, 1, represents an envelop holder, box or tray'having an open front or side adjacent to the roll, II. This holder j is adjustably secured upon the frame, A, by.

the screws, a, and'may be moved either toward or from said roll. The bottom 'of the holder, 1', contains two inclines or slanting .rails, i, and envelope which are placed in the holder settle downward on these inclines,

' until the front envelopengages the side of the roller, H. The rolls rotate in the direction indicated by the arrows and therefore the moment an-envelopengages the roll, H, the

f latter tends to draw it down between the roll and the edge of the holder, I. To insure the.

proper operation of the roller upon the exposed envelop, provide the ends of the roller with enlargements, usually made by placing small rubber bands, 1, thereon. These firmly engage and adhere to the envelop which is pressed against the, roll by the weight of the other envelope. Small spring 1 fingers, t", "or other flexible edge or edges upon the box or holder extend from the bottom thereof to a point close to the pressure roll,-

,Figse and 5;

11 on the roll H, cooperates with the springs ifl'to the extent that they tend to bend the envelop transversely and thus assist in holding back the second envelop, The draft or pull of the roll, H, upon the envelop is sufliclent to pull the envelop down as soon as it comes in contact with the roll,'and it is ob vious that a second envelop will make coni tact with the roll as soon asthefirst envelop has assed beneath the fingers, 'i. This be-' in t e case, the envelope will be fed from the liolderipne after another a seeond envelop: following close upon the drs t. The machine may be m'ade to operate-continuously in this manner if desired, but in all machines of the character of addressing machines, it is necessary to positively time or regulate the feeding of the envelope, sheets, cards .or the like; the reason being, that the t pe plates are fed intermittently and honest e envelope must be delivered in like mannen I therefore pre fer to provide means whereby an envelop will beca'used to pause after bem drawn out of the holder, and will be so he d until the moment when it should .be released to meet atype plate, canceling stamp or the like, ar-

ranged either on the conveyer or'carried by the roll, G, as the case may be. The means which I employ consist in two stop fin ere,

dogs or books, if, placed beneath the rol H;

that is, between the tworollers. These dogsare arranged to rise into thepath of an incoming envelop to retard its motion and to thereafter at a certain moment drop out of the way and thereby release the envelop and permit it to pass betw'eenthe rolls. The fingers, i are, attached to an adjacent part of the frame beneath theplate feeder, if such feeder is used. The hooked ends of the fingere are operated by cams on: the roller, G, belilng held in cam grooves provided in said r0 er.

Referring to Figs. 3, 4 and 5 it will be seen that the said grooves, 11, contain elevations or came, 21', and whensuch parts are in conthe starting of the envelop at exactly the right moment, a flexible or rubbe r piece, i,

is provided on the roll, G, to engage the end of the envelop at the moment it is released from the sto e, i The rotation of the roll,

G, has a de nite relation tothe positions of the plate lugs or pins, b, on the plate feeder or conveyer, hence the relation of the starting or draft piece, i to an approaching t plate is also fixed. This bemgthe case,-.t e

point at which the imprint-of the type will be applied to the envelop and the adaptation of the machine to envelope of difierentsizes may be determined and accomplished by simply shifting the draft piece, i, backw'ard machine for short envelo s, the piece, '5, is moved rearwardly, while on longer envelo s it is moved forward on the roll, G. 'It sheu d be observed that the adjustment of the draftor forward upon the roll, G. ggTo adju'st'the piece makes necessary the adjustment ofthe earns, 17, for the reason that the stops, i must always be dropped away before the draft piece engages the envelop; otherwise i the flexible fingers, 4;, separate the first and there would be danger of tearing the envelop. As like adjustments of the parts-v7 and i are required they are preferably formed in one piece, as shown in Figs; 5, 8 and 9. Screws, i serve to securethe parts in either of three or more positions. Y

The complete operation of the mechanism is as follows; The holder, I, is first filled with envelops, which in the case of the machine illustrated are placedon'end in said holder.

It is obvious that the. forward envelop will drop into contact with the roll, H. -When the crank is turned to rotate the rolls G and H, in the direction indicated by arrows th e' first workof the roll, H, is to draw down the envelo which rest against. it. Meantime second envelops and the second envelop is held back as before explained. At the mo-- ment of starting the operation, the dogs, are in their-elevated positions, resting upon the cams, 2', hence the envelop which is drawn by the roll is arrested by the dogs, i and will be held thereby against the drawing tendency of the roll, H. Further rotation of the roll, G, carries the cams, i past the dogsand thereupon said dogs drop into the H, and the feeding operation is repeated.

As stated the machine is readily adjustable to the feeding of cards, sheets, envelops and the like, of different lengths, by mere adjustment of cam pieces, 2', and the draft piece, i It is obvious that the machine is adjustable to cards, sheets and envelops of different thickness also, such adjustment being secured by moving the holder, I,"; toward or from the roller, H, as required, to properly fix the feeding space between the flexible fingers and said roll. In practice the fingers substantially make contact with the roll, H, so close is their adjustment:

As various modifications of my invention will readily suggest themselves to one skilled in the art, I do not confine or limit my invento the specific constructions herein contained. 4

Having thus described my invention; I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. In a feeding mechanism of the class described, a box or holder having an open front and adapted-to contain a loose pack of sheets or envelops, in upstanding position,

in combination, with means for'fe ding the latter forward in said box, flexible restraining devices or supports provided at the bot- I tom of said holder, a frictional drawing roll presenting its side to the ends of said supports and another roll in substantial con? tact with and cooperating with said drawingroll, substantially as described.

2. An envelop feeding mechanism comprising .a holder having an open front and an inclined bottom, in combination with envelop supporting fingers provided at the bottom of said holder, a frictional drawing -roll presenting its side to the ends of said fingers, a cooperating drawing roll, and envelop stopping and releasing means, relativel between said rolls, substantially as described.

3. An envelop feeding -mechanism comprising a pair of rolls, the circumference of. the larger of which is substantially equal to the length of an envelop, in combination with an envelop' holder adjacent to the smaller roll topresent theside' of .an envelop in frictional contact therewith, and envelop stop and releasing means in the intake open- .ing between said rolls and actuated in time with the rotation of said rolls, substantially asdescribedi 4'. In an envelop feeding mechanism, an

envelop holder or magazine, having an in-.

clined bottom, an open front and a closed backto support envelops in rearwardly inclined position, in combination with a draw-.

ing roll arranged for rotation adjacent to v the lower edge of said holder, to first partly and then completely withdraw anenvelop from said holder and envelop stop and I' leasing devices extending beneath said roll and means intermittently operating said de- I vices, substantially as described.

5. In an envelop feeding mechanism, an

envelo holder or ma azine havin an inclined bottom and an open front, in combination with a frictional drawing roll vadia cent to said holder to engage the front en velop therein, envelop supporting fingers upon said holder,- envelop stopping and re a leasing fingers arranged beneaths'aid holder, and cooperating drawing means-for extracting an envelop from the holder when released, substantially as described.

6. In an envelop feeding mechanism, a pair of rolls suitably pressed together, in combination with an envelop holderhaving an inclined bottom terminating adjacent to the side of one of said rolls, envelop stop and releasing means arranged between-said rolls, and means upon one of said rolls for actuating said stop and releasing means, substantially as described. I

7. In an e nvelop feeding mechanism, a air of horizontally arranged drawingrolls, in combination with an envelop holder having an inclined bottom'to support envelops in upstanding position and terminating closetothe intake side of the upper roll, whereby the v tion of said roll at oints adjacent to the encreme latter is adapted to continuousl engage and draw down upon the front or st. envelop in the holder, '5 second envelop supporting pe 'larg'ed'ends thereo substantiallyas andfor the, piirposespecified. a

9.111 an envelop feeding mechanism,- a drawing roll having enlarged ends, in combination with an envelop holder having an inclined bottom, to present-successive first -envelops against said roll, restraining; de-

fenvelo Y O roll, on stantia y as'descnbed.

vices-coin 'eldable fin ers proiectm frointhe edgeo said botto in toward, n12

middle portionorbody of said roll, to support-second? envelope and intermittent dra means co-acting with sa d 1'0. .In anenvelo feeding mechanism, a

" drawing roll, in com ination with an envelop holder having its forward edge adjacent to v the side of said drawingroll, fromwhich envelo s are fed to said roll, a cooperating roll,

e'nve op stop and releasing fingers arranged between said rolls, and means upon the second roll for actuating said fingers, substantially as described.

.11. 'Iuan envelop feeding mechanism, a

drawing roll, in co "bination with an envelop holder for presenting envelope to the side of said drawing roll, a second roll, envelop stop and releasing fingers arranged between said v rolls and adjustable finger operating means upon said second roll, substantially as def scribed.

12. In an envelop feeding mechanism, an

' envelop holder or magazine having an In- Y clined' bottom and rovided with envelop sup orting fingers, a rawing roll adjacent to S81. fingers, asecond drawing roll, a longitudinaldrawing memberon the latter, station- "ary envelop stop and releasing fingers arranged between said rolls and actuated by,

the second'roll, and means for adjusting said drawing member'and the finger actuating means ug'on said second roll, substantially as I "describe 13. In aieedingmeclianism of the class described, .a box or holder, provided with a *bottomfadapted, to receive a pack of envelop'sin -u tanding sition and to automatically ified them orward, in combination with seco d envelop restrainingdevices projecting from the forward edge otos' said bottom, a pair of drawing rolls the 1pr'of which presents its intake side to t e' ends of; said restrainin to engage and imtia said 1* substantially as described. 7

, 14. In afeeding mechanism of the class-" described, a box or holder, provided with a bottom, adapted to receive a ack'of en and automatically f'ee' VelOlS war in combination with second en-- vel'o restraining devices projecting-from 8i) the orward ed e of said bottom, a pair of drawing rolls t e upper'of which presents its intake side to said restraining-devices,-

in position to engage and initially drawr down the first envelo and meanscoactingwith said rolls an timing the final. drawing action of said rolls, substantially as described.

15. In a feeding mechanism of the class described a box or holder having a bottom, and I open at the front in combination with second envelop restraining deviceswrejectmg at the forward edge of said bottom, a drawing roll having its side in close proximity to said restraining devices and adapted to conr i tiniiously enga e the first nvelepinthe holder, and to draw the same down past soil restraining-devices, means'beneath said de-- vices automatically limiting the initial down draft or movement of the firste nvelop, I

and automatically actuated to release the same. and permit the complete withdrawal thereof by said roll, substantially as described.

16. In a feeding-mechanism of the class de- 4 scribed, a holder to receive a pack of articles such as envelops, placed on edge therein, said holderhaving ag/open front towards which the articles are-pressed, combina tion with yieldin .r'estraining devices or fin- 11o om the bottom of said older, a drawingroll (presenting its intake fiers projecting side to said fin as an suitably rotated, a-

coactin draft evice and stop-and releasing means serted and removed from the path vof each article withdrawn from the; der b said roll in advance of the operation of sai draft device thereon, substantially as'described -17 In an envelop feeding mechanism, 941' 120 envelop holder or magazme'having'anbpen I front, in combination with a frictional drawroll adjacent to said holderto engage. the f ont?" envelop therein, second.-nyelop supporting fingers fiieldablyfi'lasrggngfigelig 1 26 the bottom of said older, 4

sto and releasing means arranged neiii said roll and periodically actuated, and

devices, in position y draw down the envelop, and means operative be- 70 neath said restrainingdevices and between saidrolls, automatically controlling the final, '.or com lete withdrawal of each envelop by them for I eneath said roll, and periodically .in-

. combination with an envelop holder havinga cooperating drawing roll for com letely extracting an envelo from the hoder when released, substantia 1y as described.

18. In an envelo feeding mechanism a pair of rolls suitab y pressed together, in

aninclined bottom terminating adjacent to the intake side of the upper roll, and envelop stop and releasing means beneath said bottom and actuated by the lower roll, substantially as described. I

19. In a feeding mechanism of the class described, a pair of drawing rolls, in combination with a tray or holder containing means for feeding the articles forward against the intake side of the upper roll, whereby the latter is adapted to draw envelops from said holder, supporting devices at the bottom, forward edge of said holder, and feed controlling means operating in the intake opening of said rolls, substantially as and for t e purpose specified.

20. In an addressing machine, the combination of a printing mechanism .with an envelop holder adjacent thereto, a portion of said mechanism'beingadapted to withdraw envelops from said holder in two steps or stages and an intermediate stopping and releasing means actuated by said mechanism scribed.

and governing the drawing action thereof,

substantially as described.

' 21. In an envelop feeding mechanism, a

pair of horizontal rolls, in combination with an envelop holder adapted to present the ends of successive upstanding envelops to the intake side of the upper roll," suitable separating means, and envelop stop and releasing means between said rolls and actuated by the lower roll,-substantially as de- 22. In an addressing machine the combi nation of a printing mechanism with an en-' velop holder adjacent thereto, a portion of said mechanism being adapted to withdraw envelops from the-said holder, and intermittent envelop stopping and releasing means actuated by said mechanism and permitting first, the arti'al withdrawalof an envelop from said I older, and second, permitting its passage through and discharge from said I mechanism, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, this 27th day of April, 1906, in the subscribing wltnesses.

presence of two RUSSELL N. ROGERS.

Witnesses:

CHARLES GILBERT HAWLEY,

M. SrMo v. 

